Principal, Founder's Office (Chief of Staff)

The Role:

The Principal, Founder's Office is a pivotal role within CommerceIQ, serving as a prominent strategic partner to our CEO. This position plays a critical role in enabling effective decision-making, overseeing project management, and driving the execution of strategic initiatives across the organization. The Principal, Founder's Office establishes and maintains the essential organizational and communication framework that allows our customers, employees, and leadership team members to translate the CEO's vision into tangible results, ensuring the achievement of annual goals. A forward-thinking and visionary individual, the Principal, Founder's Office is committed to long-term planning and projects that pave the way for our organization's growth and the triumph of our CEO. 

As a Principal, Founder's Office, you will be the unseen force propelling our CEO's vision forward, wielding the power to influence and impact every facet of our organization, from the boardroom to the front lines. This role offers a unique opportunity for personal and professional growth, preparing aspiring executives for future leadership roles within CommerceIQ and beyond. This role allows you to get a birds-eye-view of all roles in a growing startup, offering a view into what a career in each of the roles could be - and a feeder to important leadership positions. Join us on this transformative journey, where your contributions will shape the future of CommerceIQ.

The role is quite standard in Venture funded companies and has been a platform for many successful execs in the valley Please review the following link to get a good overview of the role: Exec Ops role (6 min)

This role is based in Sunnyvale, CA. 

Why the Principal, Founder's Office Matters:

At CommerceIQ, we believe that the Principal, Founder's Office is a force multiplier; the CEO’s right hand ; a strategic partner that helps build and run a wildly successful business. You will serve as a critical leader in the following areas: 

• Special Projects: An extra set of hands to help with strategic priorities on anything from Product to Growth.
• Company Strategy: A strategic advisor and confidant (a highly trusted person with whom to discuss and pressure‐test ideas).
• Business Operations: An organizer to help manage a picture of the priories, projects, decisions, and actions that should be in the brain space of the CEO.

What You'll Do:

• Communications Director: Relay information between executive team members and other staff members. Attend board meetings, provide an overall picture of productivity to executives and stakeholders, and transmit information to department heads.
• Strategic Advisor: Provide data analysis and metrics of the company’s productivity to the executive team, and suggest strategic initiatives to improve workflow, teamwork, and budget management.
• Program Manager: Determine performance indicators for the company and deliver those metrics to board members.
• Chief Coordinator: Manage essential daily tasks that frequently exceed the bandwidth of executive team members, including the facilitation of project coordination and the oversight of business administration in collaboration with department leaders.
• Master Organizer: Partner closely with the CEO's Executive Assistant to design and implement a strategic framework that empowers the CEO to focus on high-impact tasks efficiently.
• Problem Solver: Wield decision-making power to identify employee issues and provide workable solutions, then communicate only the pertinent details to the executive team and board members, who may or may not follow up with additional direction.
• Special Projects Team Leader: Assess the risk, cost, and work required for new initiatives and special projects from the CEO and/or board, as well as facilitate and oversee the project to completion. 
• Trusted Operator: Manage sensitive and/or confidential information with a high level of discretion.
• Expert Facilitator: Manage conversations, synthesize multiple points of view, and align on direction while remaining impartial and professional.

What You'll Bring:

• 3-7 years of professional experience in consulting roles with a high level of business acumen, consistently delivering results and navigating multifaceted challenges.
• MBA and/or operations experience is required. 
• Experience crafting successful Pricing & Packaging strategies is required.
• Skilled in orchestrating impactful leadership and board meetings, ensuring seamless communication flow, and facilitating effective decision-making.
• Ability to create concise decks and write-ups, for complex business situations.
• Strong cross-functional leadership experience and the ability to drive initiatives, facilitate special projects, and ensure action items are executed on behalf of the CEO.
• Ability to operate at a tactical, strategic, and operational level, and manage projects that do not neatly fit within the organizational chart or that fall between leadership areas of responsibility
• Comfortable serving as an extension of the CEO and information funnel, filter, and facilitator with internal and external stakeholders, including the CEO’s direct reports and Executive Assistant.
• Proficient in assessing and prioritizing tasks, identifying any obstacles, and adeptly managing the CEO’s schedule alignment with organizational objectives.
• Accomplished in relationship management, skilled at cultivating and nurturing stakeholder, investor, and client relationships.
• Ability to serve as a thought partner and strategic advisor to the CEO, standing in on meetings, offering a different perspective, and following up on action items with the team accordingly
• Analytically inclined, skilled at deriving actionable insights and recommendations to inform high-impact decisions.
• Adaptable and strategically minded, ensuring the CEO’s brand and reputation are effectively managed in a dynamic environment.

What’s in it for your career:

• Your goal is simple: relentlessly and creatively solve any problem that gets thrown your way. In exchange, you’ll get a front-row seat to take CommerceIQ to the next level. Most importantly, you will gain the skills, network, and experience needed to accelerate your career.
• You’ll work directly with the CEO and we’ll adjust the role to fit your strengths and passions. You’ll wear lots of hats: company strategy, fundraising, business operations, marketing, sales, hiring, product, etc. ‐ whatever is the top priority. We’ll divide and conquer.

Benefits & Perks: 

The typical base pay range for this role across the US is USD: $147,000 - $221,000/per year    

This base pay range may be inclusive of several career levels at CommerceIQ and will be narrowed based on a number of factors including the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and location.  

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at CommerceIQ. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock options, as well as potential discretionary bonuses. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k)-retirement plan, short & long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other perks. We have at least 10 paid company holidays in each calendar year, in addition to this we have unlimited PTO for our full-time employees.